Legacy automaker Ford (F) recently rolled out its sales numbers for November, and the news was far from encouraging. The loss of tax credits for electric vehicles hit sales of those vehicles hard, and that left Ford on the back foot. Investors sent shares down modestly in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.
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The loss of electric vehicle tax credits had a predictable impact on electric vehicle sales, though the extent of the impact might not have been so predictable. Ford electric vehicle sales dropped 61% against November 2024’s figures.
This might not have been so bad on its own, but it turns out that gas vehicle sales were insufficient to stem the losses from the electric division. Sales in general were down about 1% total, reports note, coming in at 164,925 total. Objectively, that is still a significant block of sales, but for Ford, it is something of a disappointment. With one of Ford’s biggest suppliers still down thanks to multiple fires—reports put the number up to three separate fires now—at the Novelis plant, that is limiting production. Limited production will, in turn, commonly limit sales.
Electric Bronco Coming Soon
Despite the loss of tax credits, Ford is not calling it quits on the electric vehicle market. We have known about the electric Bronco making its way to China for some time now. But new developments suggest that it will not be a Chinese-only product. It will be making its way to Europe as a plug-in hybrid, reports note.
The plug-in hybrid Bronco will be produced at the Valencia plant in Spain, reports note, and it will use the same C2 platform as the Kuga. This will not be a full-electric model, reports note, as Ford has had an especially difficult time selling full electrics in Europe. When will the electric Bronco hit the United States? Many have asked that question already, but no clear response has emerged. Though given the state of the United States electric vehicle market, the answer may be never, or at least not any time soon.
Is Ford Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on F stock based on two Buys, nine Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 21.63% rally in its share price over the past year, the average F price target of $12.63 per share implies 2.66% downside risk.
